This year there are more homes on the market, prices growing at a slower rate and even falling in some markets, and less competition from other buyers.
Finding a home is a lot less stressful this year than it has been in recent years.
RedFin recently reported that homebuyers in the US about are spending less time during the search for their dream home. They are able to quickly find homes that they want to tour, tour/open houses, and then spend time making a decision and putting in an offer. This change in the buying process is thanks to the fact that there are many more homes on the market than in recent years. And the prices of those homes are growing at a slower rate or even falling in some areas. Overall there is less competition from other home buyers.
When a buyer finds the home they want to make an offer on there’s now a greater chance that their offer will be the only one and that the seller will accept it. This has led to the shortest median home search length for buyers during the winter months in at least six years.
As the market is becoming more tenable for buyers, it’s becoming less favorable for sellers, who are waiting longer to secure a buyer this year. Nationwide, homes that sold in February spent a median 59 days on the market before going under contract, up two days from a year earlier, and following three consecutive years of acceleration.
Buyers this year are also having to see fewer homes in person and write fewer offers before successfully landing a home. Nationally, buyers toured an average of about 10 homes this winter before closing on a home, and made an average of 1.6 offers, compared to touring about 11 homes and making 1.8 offers a year ago.